Jon Christian reports that as the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon in history, the mission was a coup for the Chinese space program. But new reporting by the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, suggests that the Chinese government could have an ulterior motive: scoping out whether the Moon contains an isotope the nation could used to fuel interplanetary missions.
The fuel in question is helium-3, the non-radioactive isotope featured in the 2009 Duncan Jones film “Moon.” Lunar regolith may be rich in helium-3, which could theoretically be a compelling source of fusion energy — or even power next-generation fusion rockets. That’s all far in the future, but that doesn’t mean space pioneers in China don’t have their eyes on the prize. “China thinks in decades,” Clive Neal, a lunar expert at the University of Notre Dame, told SCMP. “The U.S. thinks in presidential terms.”
For additional information on China's plans, see: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180893/fuel-quest-could-be-driving-chinas-mission-moon
Also discussed in some detail, see:
1. http://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/CHAPTER02.pdf and the author's book: Schmitt, H. H., 2006, Return to the Moon: New York, Copernicus-Praxis, 345 p.
2. http://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/CHAPTER03.pdf relates to mining on the Moon.
3. http://www.i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/Memoir101-CHAPTER09Rev.pdf and the other associated 8 chapters in Memoir 101.
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